Robert @rfhirst Twitter profile

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

One deeply ahistorical aspect of most films and shows set during the Middle Ages is their extreme sanitization of combat which reduces it to child's play and thus fails to approximate anywhere near reality. To illustrate this we will here take an example from early medieval Kent.

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Robert

@rfhirst

4 months

Yeah, I plan on giving my children traditional Anglo-Saxon names.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

The sword is the most iconic of weapons, so having received the lion's share of attention in studies of medieval arms. For that reason we shall in this thread sheathe ours and talk instead of the spear in Anglo-Saxon England, giving an overview of both its various forms and uses.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

The St. Brice's Day massacre of 13 November 1002 during which King Æthelred ordered "a most just extermination" of those Danes living in England is one of the widest known yet most misunderstood events in English history. One key of import is to be found in the Gospel of Matthew.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

The reality of death in medieval combat ought to be widely known, not for sadism but as an antidote to certain modern attitudes which conceive of the Middles Ages as that time when Lord Knobhead grew fat on cheese and wine whilst the peasants broke their sorry backs for a carrot.

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@rfhirst

6 months

In speaking so of the horrors of war it ought not be thought that this detracts from past heroism. If anything it bolsters it, magnifies it, and commands from the modern reader with true knowledge a solemn respect for each and every man who mustered on through the heat of battle.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

The particular skeleton we are looking at comes from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Eccles. Labelled by Manchester as "P171" and by Wenham as "II", this was a male who at the time of death was aged between 20-25 years old. His manner of death has confidently been ascribed to combat.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Kent, as we will here call him, suffered 30 perimortem injuries to his skeleton, the timing of these known by there being no signs of healing in any of his bones. The above number does not include however many other injuries he sustained which did not come into contact with bone.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Plentiful food and fine clothes, lands and titles of honor were bought at the price of abandoning all hope for a long life, so few lived to see 30 winters, and having to time and again witness horrors which lay beyond our comprehension - horrors which no cynic today could endure.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

A cynical attitude which sees past warrior-aristocrats as underserving of what luxuries they enjoyed is easy to hold when one's concept of their raison d'être is informed by the simplified & sterilized depictions of modern media; almost nonchalant, unskilled, open and accessible.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

No part of this death was sterile or accompanied by but a small, theatrical spurt of blood. The head wounds, Wenham singled out, would have caused "profuse bleeding" and small bits of organic material would have accompanied several swords as they were being retrieved post-stroke.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

These 30 skeletal injuries were inflicted by a minimum of 18 different blows, seemingly inflicted by swords and by at least two enemy combatants. They can be divided into three broad and roughly chronological categories; blows to the arms, blows to the head and blows to the back.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

But, we need not look solely at archaeology to see the true brutality of warfare at this time. In The Battle of Maldon and the Carmen de Hastingae we read of the deaths of Beorhtnoth of Essex and Harold Godwinson respectively, both men being hacked apart and thoroughly mutilated.

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@rfhirst

6 months

Below we follow Wenham's conjectured reconstruction of our Kent's death which began with a blow to his right radius. This would have severed the flexor muscles which enable one to form a fist and so he would have become incapable of holding his weapon, his right hand now useless.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Kent now stood in the midst of battle unable to hold a weapon or shield, his arms hanging limp and drenched in blood. It was at this point, Wenham proposed, that his enemies closed in and began striking him on the head with their swords in a frenzied and extended series of blows.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

He then suffered a blow to his left elbow which would have had a similar effect, rendering him incapable of holding his shield, and another around this time to his left ulna which is a common defensive wound that results from an attempt to block an incoming blow with the forearm.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Now, as should be said not all warriors died from injuries this numerous. Another combat death at Eccles, "J0114"/"I" suffered just one injury, a single blow which nearly halved his skull. At the same time, others are known to have suffered more perimortem injuries than our Kent.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Injuries 2 and 6 were likely among the first inflicted, after receiving which Kent probably lost consciousness and began falling forward. The killing blow(s) were those delivered to the back of his head which culminated in a partial decapitation and the severing of his brainstem.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

However, with this being a frenzied attack occurring within a very short span of time Kent's enemies would not have immediately registered his death and so at least eight more blows were delivered along the whole of his back after he had finished falling forward onto his stomach.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

It is ever important when studying history to not impose onto the past modern perceptions regarding stages of life. For example, scholars regularly underline Alfred the Great's youth when discussing his accession to the throne at the age of 22, but this is very easily overstated.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

@Bushwhackin97 On account of the constant stream of projectiles, to list just one factor, flying through the air - javelins, throwing axes and even throwing maces - were one to put on a show of Swan Lake, as you see so often in historical media, they surely would have been killed instantly.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

From the earliest times, as Todd noted in The Early Germans, the spear dominated the kit of Germanic warriors, over and above that of other peoples for how common a weapon it is, such to where, as once my friend @wylfcen suggested, we might invent for them the ethnonym "Gārmenn".

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Robert

@rfhirst

9 months

From man's earliest days warriors have undertaken missions which lay beyond the bounds of regular warfare, setting broad precedents for the special operations of modern militaries. In this thread we will discuss one such mission executed by the Anglo-Saxons, a raid into Normandy.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Among the Anglo-Saxons the spear's precedence was maintained for the duration of their given period, during which it was called by a number of names. Most common were "gār" and "spere", from which we derive our word "spear", but a great many other terms were used less frequently.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

Early Anglo-Saxon warriors ate better while in armies than they did in civilian life. Since war was the ultimate aristocratic ritual, war-leaders were expected to provide a fitting and consistent diet of fresh meat, dairy, breads, vegetables, and inexhaustible amounts of alcohol.

River_Tam

@RiverTamYDN

8 months

Guy who thinks medieval armies were eating fresh meat

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

While often thought of in simple terms, "a stick with a pointy end", Swanton noted that spears came in nigh as many shapes and sizes as there were smiths. For simplicity we will here follow Underwood's groupings, but do remember that they are only naturally an oversimplification.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Although, being made of wood, poorly attested in archaeology we can yet say that many spear shafts would have been painted in diverse colors and patterns. Other decorations included small iron or bronze rings and plates, fitted and stamped on, and occasionally runic inscriptions.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

The First Viking Invasion of Wessex saw happen many significant events in the life of Alfred the Great from his first ever combat to his being crowned king. In this thread we will examine closely the opening week and a half of the war which might be termed the "Ashdown Campaign".

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Per Underwood the first of the four major groups of spears were angular spears, called so because of the distinct angle formed between the bottom of the blade and the socket. A second trait common to most spears of this group is a diamond cross-section, this shown in black below.

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Robert

@rfhirst

7 months

Although the Anglo-Saxons most often fought on middan felda the assumption that they only fought field battles is incorrect for siege warfare of two kinds, "heroic" and "traditional", was also practiced. In this thread we will give a brief overview of the former, "heroic" sieges.

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Robert

@rfhirst

9 months

As per a recent article from The Guardian there is currently in production a film and TV series on William the Conqueror. Many things could be said, but here we will focus on the film's positing that Harold Godwinson died by an arrow to the eye. Is this, in fact, how Harold died?

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Those which measured nearer the lower range of the scale were most likely used as throwing spears; disposable, and so presumably plain, projectiles which a warrior would loose towards the start of battle before drawing his primary weapon, as we see happen in The Battle of Maldon.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

The third group of spears were those which featured a midrib of square cross section, some were simple spikes whilst others had thin blades welded on. Both designs had tremendous armor piercing capabilities and were exceptionally effective against opponents who were wearing mail.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

This is important because popular perception of the massacre, epitomized by its depiction in the TV series 'Vikings: Valhalla', holds that the English targeted both women and children as well as Danes who had been settled in England for generations. None of this is true, however.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

The second major group of spears were those with leaf-shaped blades, these most often featuring in addition a lentoid, or lens-shaped, cross-section. Although angular spears were by far the most popular among the Anglo-Saxons, leaf-shaped spears have been found in no mean number.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

The fourth and final major group of spears were those with corrugated blades, a development which seems to have replaced midribbing and allowed for an increase in longitudinal strength whilst preserving economy. They are characterized by their lightning bolt-shaped cross-section.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Through various methods Anglo-Saxon spears have been estimated to have ranged in total length from 5'3"/160cm to 11'6"/350cm. As a weapon's length naturally weighs heavily upon its use it should be no surprise, then, that with a range this broad spears were used in numerous ways.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

By the nature of such spears, by the use of the word "phalanx" to describe their battle formations in Latin sources, and by their neighbors depicting themselves using spears two-handed I think it fair to suppose that some Anglo-Saxons held exceptionally long spears in both hands.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Spearheads could be decorated in a few ways from having engraved shapes and/or patterns to featuring inlays of fine wire made from precious metals. However, decoration was most prominently seen on a spear's shaft which of all components saw the greatest degree of personalization.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Fighting spears, which Pollington believed averaged 8'0"/244cm, were often held in one hand while a shield was held in the other. Fighting so made available to a warrior one of two stances, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, which were adopted according to circumstances.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Surely one explanation is that such spears were wielded in the usual manner by giant men. Anglo-Saxon aristocrats could grow to be very large, Byrhtnoth for one when his tomb was opened was found to have stood at 6'9". However, this cannot come close to a compressive explanation.

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Robert

@rfhirst

9 months

Charles Martel is known as the Frankish mayor who halted the Umayyads at the Battle of Tours in 732, though this was far from his only success. Two years later Charles fought in Frisia what John Haywood has called "one of the outstanding naval campaigns of the early Middle Ages".

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

Over the past several decades every scholar who has studied this topic like Roach, Abels, Keynes and others has been unanimous in their stating that this massacre was limited to recently arrived Scandinavian mercenaries and was not the genocide that it has before been painted as.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Conversely, fighting underarm enabled greater range, as a warrior could hold his spear beneath its point of balance, and greater control which allowed him to parry incoming blows. However, his own thrusts would be less effective for they would not have as much weight behind them.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

Indeed, to that end we have here endeavored to bring the reader, if only in basic terms, for unless one has something of a knowledge of all the many things weighing heavily upon England during the 11th century then one can not comprehend King Æthelred's "most just extermination".

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Shafts were sometimes shoed with ferrules made of iron which both protected the wood from splitting and shifted the spear's point of balance. These could be simple caps which fit over a shaft or solid pieces and when decorated usually formed a set with their respective spearhead.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Fighting overarm enabled a warrior to target his foe's face and upper body as well as put greater weight behind his thrusts. However, range was diminished as a spear would have to be held at its point of balance and parrying blows with one's spear would become next to impossible.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Several replies to this, to the last part specifically, which, I think it fair to claim, many misinterpreted wildly took issue with my "fetishizing aristocrats" at the expense of the masses of fighting peasants, but this betrays a defective understanding of early medieval armies.

Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

One deeply ahistorical aspect of most films and shows set during the Middle Ages is their extreme sanitization of combat which reduces it to child's play and thus fails to approximate anywhere near reality. To illustrate this we will here take an example from early medieval Kent.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

As an endnote I will add that citations for quotes, when posted as an image, and various graphics are to be found in the "ALT" text box. The four books I used for this thread are shown together below and in addition I used the Rutgers online translation of The Battle of Maldon.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

It is this which King Æthelred referred to in a charter from 1004 wherein he likened the Danes to tares which had sprouted up amongst his English wheat. This, then, paints the Danes as chiefly a moral, rather than political, threat and so places the massacre in a greater context.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

One of the most fascinating, certainly one of the rarest, weapons from the Early Anglo-Saxon Period is the axe-hammer. This is exactly as the name implies, a double-headed weapon mounted on a shaft with one side featuring an axe-head and the other an elongated, blunt hammer-head.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

In tracing developments within the English Church during the 990s one sees this end being pursued with ever greater vigor but to no effect. As the call to repentance grew louder the Viking attacks grew more violent and the English were endlessly frustrated on the field of battle.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

For spears 8'0" long these stances are believable, but what about those which ranged up to 11'6"? Pollington remarked that spears of this size would have been incredibly heavy and unwieldy, yet insisted that the Anglo-Saxons only ever used spears one-handed. With this I disagree.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Depending upon a spear's shape, length, amount of reinforcement, and other various factors its wielder had to have an acute knowledge of how to hold it, what stance to take and when, whether to stab or slash and which body part to aim at for otherwise he would in short order die.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

The outbreak of the Second Viking Age in the 980s was not seen as something unto itself but rather as a punishment for the sins of the people. The king's primary response to the renewed attacks, therefore, was religious in that he sought foremost to call his people to repentance.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

This was probably not the only time spears were held two-handed, either. Swanton argued that early Anglo-Saxon spears were short, so solely for thrusting, but over time they increased in length and began to hint in their construction that they came to be used as slashing weapons.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

In chapter 13, verses 24-30 St Matthew relays Christ's parable of the tares/weeds. At the heart of this parable lies the problem of evil for the tares represent sin which is allowed to be sown by the devil amongst either a people or a person on account of a lapse in watchfulness.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Many spearheads have been found which featured blades of both angular and leaf shape measuring between 35-65cm and which were often reinforced with bindrings around their sockets. These would have been necessary if such spears were used for lateral blows, as seems to be the case.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

In conclusion, it ought to be said that, though relatively simple, in order to use a spear effectively a warrior required a great deal of training. A spearman needed to have a deep understanding of his weapon, of its strengths to maximize them and its weaknesses to minimize them.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

In 994 London was attacked, being saved only through the intercession of the Mother of God. The enemy then turned and across Essex, Kent, Sussex and Hampshire "did the greatest damage that ever any army could do". In 997 the Danes wrought terrible death across Cornwall and Devon.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

This Pallig had been a mercenary whom King Æthelred had allowed to settle in England in return for defending her coast. Despite being showered with generous gifts of land and gold, when the opportunity arose Pallig broke his sacred oath and savaged those he was charged to defend.

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Robert

@rfhirst

9 months

"Widows and orphans you shall not injure, nor ever hurt them. If you nevertheless do then they will cry to me and I will hear them, and I will slay you with my sword so that your wives will become widows and your children will become orphans." -King Alfred the Great, Domboc I.34

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Though it is difficult to imagine spears of the above type being used to their full potential one-handed, more regular spears of later date can easily be imagined as being used so with dual-purpose: excellent at thrusting whilst having enough length to deal lateral blows as well.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

To date there have been found two mass graves which are widely believed to contain those killed in King Æthelred's massacre. One was found in Oxford where the bones of several skeletons showed signs of charring while the other was found in Dorset where each man had been beheaded.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

Speaking from provable facts, that the massacre was a pre-emptive strike against foreign mercenaries who were poised to overthrow the government, Keynes said "there might be good cause if not to applaud then at least to condone rather than deplore the massacre of St Brice's Day".

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

Upon the turn of the millennium the long-suffering English became desperate for an end to their misery. Their desperation was compounded by eschatological concerns for at this time western Europe was in a frenzy over the widespread belief that Christ's Second Coming was imminent.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

It was at this most sensitive moment that the worst attack thus far came. In 1001 the enemy launched raids across the whole of England, often punching inland and laying waste to the interior. The fortunate died in armed resistance while the survivors were subjected to atrocities.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

The above excerpt sets forth the case succinctly, though we might add to it. The story of Gunhild's death and mentions of any women being killed all come exclusively from post-Conquest writers. The complete silence of pre-Conquest sources in this regard, then, is quite deafening.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

In 998 Dorset, where rested King Æthelred's holy namesake and great-great uncle St. Æthelred, was ravaged. In 999 Rochester, where the second bishopric of the English Church had been founded nearly 400 years prior, was sacked and the Vikings "destroyed and ravaged all West Kent".

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Military training began for Anglo-Saxon aristocrats at the age of seven or eight. It could be conducted at home, but it seems more often a boy would leave his parents to go live with a group of peers while under the supervision of a tutor, usually a maternal uncle or grandfather.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

As from the beginning this was seen as a result of a religious problem. The king had tolerated evil in allowing bands of pagan mercenaries to settle in his land. Against the backdrop of apocalyptic concerns, this was likely seen as something England was poised to be punished for.

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@rfhirst

8 months

Shortly thereafter reports began coming in that the other bands of Danish mercenaries whom the king had settled across England were likewise plotting betrayal, though now with a greater aim. They intended on killing Æthelred as well as his chief men and taking control of England.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

In the more immediate sense, it is evident that Christ's parable now came to Æthelred's mind. As if asleep he had allowed tares to be sown, and those tares now threatened to suffocate his good wheat. The only recourse now was to uproot them, bind them and cast them into the fire.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

What is important to note about these graves is that every skeleton in either had belonged to a man of military age. Isotopic analysis has revealed that all of the men found originated from outside of Britain, having been born and raised in traditionally Scandinavian territories.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

One band which attacked Devon was there joined by a Dane named Pallig and his ships. Together they defeated a cobbled together English army, killing both of the king's reeves who led it, and went on to raze to miserable ash innumerable villages across Devon and the Isle of Wight.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

Royal writs were sent out and on St Brice's Day 1002 men from across England took up arms and attacked their nearest mercenaries. The aforementioned charter of 1004 relays the massacre as it happened in Oxford which saw the local Danes burned alive in the church of St Frideswide.

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@rfhirst

8 months

The killing of women, then, just like the killing of babies and most other facets of popular perception are alone inspired by Norman and Anglo-Norman historians who wrote to fulfil various agendas. When these are set aside we are presented with a very different picture of events.

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Robert

@rfhirst

5 months

This is not a real quote, though it often gets posted and goes viral online as if it were. It is not found in any contemporary sources but rather appears only centuries after Clovis' death. Further, it depicts him in an anachronistic way; as a brutish simpleton, which he was not.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

In providing a brief overview of a warrior's training I aim not so much to say this was how precisely Alfred was brought up, but more simply to show that 22 in Old England was not what 22 is today and one must never lose sight of this when trying to assess history as it happened.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

The often laconic Anglo-Saxon Chronicle might not mention it but the Encomium Emmae Reginae doubtless would, the main purpose of this document being to bolster the legitimacy of King Cnut, Gunhild's nephew. However, the only victim of the massacre mentioned is Thorkell's brother.

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Robert

@rfhirst

4 months

Samo, an adventurous Frankish merchant who was made king by those Slavs whom he helped to shake off Avar rule and who subsequently went on to reign for 35 success-filled years.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

There were certainly parallels between these boys and their modern equivalents such as both by their natures challenging one another to physical competitions like foot races, wrestling matches and on. However, where for modern boys this is merely play for Anglo-Saxons it was not.

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Robert

@rfhirst

8 months

Roach, while accepting as true the same broad facts as Keynes nevertheless with several other scholars does not come close to saying that the massacre can be condoned, said in his book on the king that "we do not have to approve of Æthelred's actions in order to comprehend them".

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Likewise, where boys of all eras seem to have an innate ability to look at a simple stick and see in it a mighty sword the duels which follow for modern boys are for play whereas for Anglo-Saxons they were structured with tutors drilling young warriors-in-training in proper form.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

That no hardship was borne in vain or injury senselessly suffered was constantly reinforced from a very early age through the reciting of heroic poetry which provided meaning to a boy's experience and revealed the end goal of his training as being transformed himself into a hero.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Here similarities end for Anglo-Saxon boys were also subjected to various kinds of hardships in order to prepare them for what they would encounter as adults while on campaign. These ranged from exposure to the elements, extreme heat and cold, to starvation and sleep deprivation.

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Robert

@rfhirst

5 months

Whether a threat real or imagined, in seventh century Frankia there was concern over the potential formation of an Anglo-Saxon-Byzantine alliance in opposition to the Franks which found expression in an episode recorded by Bede relating to Theodore of Tarsus and the monk Hadrian.

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Robert

@rfhirst

4 months

@Mssr_le_Baron A theory across several of Pollington's books is that among the (early) Anglo-Saxons battle, being ritualistic, was structured so that both sides would fight for a short span then break off, imbibe and embolden each other, and fight again, repeating until one side lost courage.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Stephen Pollington argued that boys as young as nine, though still in training, could sometimes be expected to join their kinfolk in battle as skirmishers, and under King Æthelstan's law (II Æthelstan) a boy younger than 12 could be punished for crimes, namely theft, as an adult.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

It was more regularly around the age of 14 that a youth progressed from the first stage of training and was now expected to prove his worth. This usually entailed singlehandedly slaying a wild beast such as a wolf, a boar or, in the case of Hereward the Outlaw and others, a bear.

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@rfhirst

6 months

In this way young warriors carried on for the remainder of their lives so that, to circle back, by the age of 22 they were anything but inexperienced youths which is a descriptor that we in the modern world would quite readily ascribe to anyone should they at that age take power.

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Robert

@rfhirst

5 months

Saint Edmund, the first patron saint of England, was martyred by the Vikings in AD 869. Lesser known than this is that the same men who martyred him were among the first to venerate him as those Northmen who settled across the Danelaw tended to soon after convert to Christianity.

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@rfhirst

6 months

Once proven, youths were expected to take a full and active role in military life. St. Guthlac, for example, before he turned himself to the service of God had by the age of 15 waged war at the head of a band of fellow youths; slaughtering, pillaging and razing enemy settlements.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

In England during the Early Middle Ages the overwhelming majority of fighting was done by warrior-aristocrats. Peasants would often fill supportive roles in armies, toting baggage and constructing defensive works, but they rarely fought and only under the most dire circumstances.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

On the point of just how personalized spears were, it is interesting to note that they rarely if ever were inherited. Swords were often passed down for generations, used even for multiple centuries, but a spear was so particular to its first owner that it left the world with him.

Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

Although, being made of wood, poorly attested in archaeology we can yet say that many spear shafts would have been painted in diverse colors and patterns. Other decorations included small iron or bronze rings and plates, fitted and stamped on, and occasionally runic inscriptions.

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Robert

@rfhirst

7 months

"Let us all kneel together and pray the almighty, everliving, and true God to defend us in His mercy from the proud and fierce enemy; for He knows that we are fighting in a just cause for the preservation of our whole race." -King Oswald of Northumbria

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Robert

@rfhirst

5 months

In the margins of the Bayeux Tapestry can be found nine depictions of Aesopic fables, purposely placed around key points. Depending upon one's own interpretation, these could be seen as the Tapestry's English embroiderers with subtlety subverting the story of their Norman patron.

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Robert

@rfhirst

4 months

@GreatValueArhat There are a handful of late Roman writers who remarked upon the cleanliness of both the Saxons and the Franks; the Anglo-Saxons, it is known, took great care of their appearance, grooming themselves and bathing regularly.

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Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

I had a bit of technical difficulty while trying to post the entirety of this thread at once in that only those posts up until this point uploaded originally. If the rest do not appear on your screen please click below to see the rest of the thread.

Robert

@rfhirst

6 months

By the nature of such spears, by the use of the word "phalanx" to describe their battle formations in Latin sources, and by their neighbors depicting themselves using spears two-handed I think it fair to suppose that some Anglo-Saxons held exceptionally long spears in both hands.

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@rfhirst

9 months

In the 980s, after a long lull in hostilities, the Vikings once again descended upon England's shores. Meanwhile across the Channel, the Duke of Normandy granted those raiders terrorizing England the use and shelter of local ports, also permitting them to sell their stolen goods.

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